Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., now has a passport pickup location

Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., is among four Canadian cities that now have a passport pickup location, Service Canada announced.

In a news release Service Canada said the four pickup locations, located at Service Canada centres, will offer 10-day service for passports.

Trois-Rivières, Que., Charlottetown and Red Deer, Alta., are the other new passport pickup locations.

"Service Canada is working tirelessly to identify and implement solutions that not only improve the speedy delivery of passports, but also improve the service experience for Canadians," Karina Gould, minister of Families, Children and Social Development, said in the release.

"We will continue to make our services more accessible for all Canadians."

Service Canada said average wait times for passport services went from 108 minutes in April to 27 minutes last week.

"The triage system introduced this summer in 17 of our 35 passport offices has made a significant impact in reducing lineups and redirecting Canadians to the appropriate means to access service," the news release said.

Sault Ste. Marie MP Terry Sheehan said he was "extremely pleased" his city was one of the four locations to get a passport pick-up location.

Sheehan said staff at the city's Service Canada centre will be able to review people's passport applications before they are sent out.

He said it should cut down wait times.

"So this new passport pick up location is a vast improvement because my constituents and people in the area of northern Ontario can come in and get it done expeditiously in 10 business days instead of 13 weeks," Sheehan said.